University of Barcelona funding for Open access publishing

University of Barcelona funding for Open access publishing

Open Access journals offer full-text versions of articles without the need to be a subscriber. In most cases, reuse is also permitted. However, scientific publishing has a cost, and some journals therefore apply publication fees. These fees are usually paid by the institutions and bodies that funded the research or the institutions where the researchers work. In addition to subscription fees paid to scientific journals, the University of Barcelona offers funding to cover the cost of publication fees in order to support the new Open Access publication model, which also has an associated cost. The University of Barcelona funding programme follows the model adopted by prestigious universities around the world.

This year the Vice-rectorate for Ph.D. and Research Promotion makes available to the community of the University of Barcelona a new call for grants to publish in open access scientific journals, framed in the policy for supporting the free dissemination of knowledge. The budget for this call is 85.000 euros.

The eligibility requirements for funding are as follows: Applicants (the authors of articles) must be members of the University of Barcelona’s teaching and research staff or administrative and service staff (in active service), or currently enrolled students. The article for which funding is requested must have been accepted for publication in an Open Access journal after 1 January 2019. At least one author must be a member of the University of Barcelona’s teaching and research staff, and it must be this author who submits the application. A separate application must be submitted for each article.

The maximum sum that may be requested for each publication is €1500, and in no case may an applicant request a sum that exceeds the established publication fee. If the article has two or more authors, each University of Barcelona author may request his/her corresponding fractional amount, which must be proportional in relation to the total number of authors. The same author can't not ask for more than one grant per year, although he/she can be a co-author of another funded article. In this later case he/she will not receive his/her proportional amount.

Authors may not request this funding if they have already obtained other funding for the same publication from an entity or institution other than the University of Barcelona. This restriction does not apply to institutional discounts offered to University of Barcelona researchers.

To apply for funding, fill in the online form and submit the application generated to any office of the University of Barcelona's General Registry. In addition to this form, the following documents must be submitted if they were not attached to the online application:

a) a copy of the article acceptance letter.

b) the corresponding invoice describing the publication charges.

c) a copy of the accepted article (in which author affiliations must be included).